Why Face ID Only Supports One Face, According To Apple Exec Craig Federighi

Touch ID, the biometric sensing feature not present on iPhone X but available on iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, secures phones from unwanted access. It even supports multiple fingerprint IDs — not to allow anyone else to be able to unlock the phone, but to register a profile for multiple fingers.

Face ID

Face ID is Apple's solution to the iPhone X's lack of a fingerprint sensor. With it, users can access their phone just by looking at it. It is highly secure — users can't unlock it with their eyes closed, or when looking away. Yet some folks have had success circumventing the security measure by using a $150 mask, the face of their twin sibling, and other more absurd ways.

Multiple Users On Face ID Possible?

In an email correspondence with Federighi that was also posted on Reddit, the executive confirmed that Face ID was indeed designed for single user authentication. This is because Touch ID, even, wasn't really designed for multi-user authentication; the support was there to enable finger registrations from each of the user's hands, not other people's.

So, will Face ID ever support multiple profiles? It seems Federighi implies that Apple hasn't closed the door on that the possibility, stating that the Cupertino brand is considering all the feedback it receives for the future evolution of Face ID.

Given several instances of people being able to outsmart Face ID, it's probably wise for Apple not to allow multi-user authentication support at this time. But whether or not this will eventually be a possibility remains to be seen. After all, the iPhone X has been out for only a month, and it's hard to say whether Face ID will catch on as a de facto security measure.

Technically, Face ID is supposed to be foolproof. Apple says it has a one in a million chance of a false match, compared to one in 50,000 for Touch ID, although the probability raises when it comes to twins, siblings who look alike, and children.

While some have successfully bypassed it, Face ID has been proven to be secure in practical, real-world usage. Hopefully Apple beefs up the system so as to support multiple users, which would allow users to register their most important family members or friends.

Thoughts about Face ID? Would you like to see multi-user authentication support at some point? As always, feel free to sound off in the comments section below!